(60-70% of instructional time should be spent on during reading activities.)
Marking the Text
What is it?
Marking the text is an active reading strategy that asks students to identify information in the text that is relevant to the reading purpose. This strategy has three distinct marks:
Number paragraphs
Circle key terms and/ or names of people, places, or things
Underline authors' claims or other information relevant to the reading purpose
Based on the reading purpose, students will use marking the text to identify information as they read. They will begin by numbering the paragraphs they have been asked to read. Then, as they identify information that is relevant to the reading task, they will underline or circle this information, making it easier to locate for notes or discussion.
Why should I use it?
When students mark texts purposefully, they are actively engaged in meaning making. To mark texts effectively, students must evaluate an entire passage and begin to recognize and isolate the key information. Once the text is marked, students will be able to quickly reference information that pertains to the reading purpose. Students might also use their markings to assist in summary writing, to connect ideas presented within the text, or to investigate claims, evidence, or rhetorical devices. Numbering paragraphs is also essential for class discussions. Once paragraphs are numbered, students can easily direct others to those places where they have found relevant information.
The following table offers some ways students can mark texts in a variety of disciplines.
Subject/ Content
What could we have our students underline?
What could we have our students circle?
English: Fiction
Metaphors
Imagery
Personification
Other figurative language
Literary devices
Plot elements
Character descriptions
Setting
Theme issues
Passages that contain conflicts
Various types of sentences
Context Clues
Characterization
Vivid language
Parts of speech
Names of characters/ places/dates
Vocabulary
Word choice
Context Clues
English: Non-fiction
Arguments/ claims
Central claims
metadiscourse/ metacommentary
Evidence
Rhetorical devices
Elements of style
What others say
Author's bias
Key terms
Transitional words
Metadiscourse/ metacommentary
Names of cited authors
Essential dates and names
Word choice
numbers
English: Poetry
Theme phrases
Lines that create tone/mood
Repetitions
Author's purpose and philosophy
Plot elements (narrative poetry)
Imagery (sensory detail)
Vocabulary
Examples of literary devices
Mood/Tone words
Rhyme scheme
English:
Textbook Strategies
Make copies of poems or short stories
Reproduce parts of the larger text
Use Post-it notes to create removable margins
Use Post-it notes to comment on visuals
Make photo copies of essential pages (excerpts)
Use overlays (plastic wrap, overhead sheets, page protectors)
Social Science
key concepts
claims
thesis statements
central claims
People
Places
Dates
Content vocabulary
Concept vocabulary
Words that signal relationships (compare-contrast; cause-effect)
Numbers
Social Science:
Textbook strategies
Use Post-it notes to create removable margins
Use Post-it notes to comment on visuals
Make photo copies of essential pages (excerpts)
Use overlays (plastic wrap, overhead sheets, page protectors)
Science
Processes
Examples
Supporting facts and details
Components of theory/ law
Main ideas
Concepts
Definitions
Descriptions
Conclusions
Scientific method
"If-Then" statements
Essential questions
Concerns in the field of science
Claims
Guiding information
Scientific terms
Key terms
Key Concepts
Properties
Formulas
Materials
Names of people, theories, or experiments
Word parts (etymology)
Units of measure
Variables
Values
Percentages
Symbols
Numbers
Content based vocabulary
Lesson based vocabulary
Science:
Textbook strategies
Use Post-it notes to create removable margins
Use Post-it notes to comment on visuals
Make photo copies of essential pages (excerpts)
Use overlays (plastic wrap, overhead sheets, page protectors)
Mathematics
key words
units
mathematical terms
formulas
variables
values
percentages
units
symbols
Mathematics:
Textbook Strategies
Use Post-it notes to create removable margins
Use Post-it notes to comment on visuals
Make photo copies of essential pages (excerpts)
Use overlays (plastic wrap, overhead sheets, page protectors)
Mathematics:
Word Problems
The question
essential information
key words
items
numbers
number words
action words
values
percentages
units
Mathematics:
Student Notes
Directions
processes
key words
units
mathematical terms
symbols
Arts
Languages
P.E.
rules
regulations
names
dates
As your reading purposes change, direct students to underline and circle textual material relevant to the reading task. If we plan to have our students learn how to use a reading strategy independently, we must give them opportunities to employ it while reading for a variety of purposes. As they learn the strategy, students need to know that "Marking the Text" has a specific purpose, engages them in a particular action, and looks a certain way in the text.
Writing and Drawing in the Margins
What is it?
Competent readers will regularly write and or draw in the margins of a text. When readers engage in this active reading strategy, they will...
ask questions based on the information in the text.
clarify information presented in the text.
summarize information presented in the text.
make connections to history, personal experiences, or other texts.
I would like to make a distinction between “annotating the text” and writing and drawing in the margins. The term “annotating” has come to mean many different things—writing notes in the margins, underlining information, highlighting main ideas, circling unfamiliar words—making it difficult for students to know what they should be thinking about and doing when asked to annotate a text. Writing and or drawing in the margins, on the other hand, has a specific purpose and action. For example, when using "Writing in the Margins," we are explaining what we want students to do--summarize, clarify, connect, etc.--and we are showing them how to do it.
How do I use it?
While students read, they should clarify, summarize, connect, and visualize textual information by either writing or drawing in the margins. Depending on the passage, a student might want to draw a concept that is being discussed or an analogy that is being used to compare one experience to another. These drawings should be small enough to fit in the margins and they should be placed near the section of text that they are illustrating. Similarly, students who choose to write in the margins should be encouraged to write their ideas directly next to the paragraph that they are responding to.
Why should I use it?
Writing in the margins engages readers in the reading task and allows them to document their thinking while reading. Both writing in the margins and drawing in the margins engages students in actively thinking about the texts they read. The power of this strategy is not the actual act of writing and drawing in the margins; instead, it is the thinking processes that students must undergo in order to produce such ideas.
Organizing and Categorizing Information
What is it?
Organizing and categorizing information is an active reading strategy that asks students to evaluate information in a text to better understand how the ideas are related. This strategy also asks students to recreate a text in a more visual form.
As students read, have them organize and or categorize information presented in the text. Typically, charts and tables are used to organize textual material. Students can create these charts and tables in their notes or teachers can create them and make photo copies for their students.
Why should I use it?
Graphic organizers and various other organizing tools assist students as they comprehend and extend ideas presented in texts. These visual representations challenge students as they evaluate what they read, apply what they have learned, and eventually organize or categorize textual information. The following websites offer a variety of graphic organizers that you could use with your students.
Double-entry journals take many shapes and forms. Educators assign double-entry journals to facilitate student learning in social studies, literature, math, and science. Writing in this format helps students take notes, relate new information to personal experience and academic learning, and generate new ideas. Double-entry journals can include visual representations such as story boards, charts, webs, and diagrams as well as writing. Simply, double-entry journals help students interact with and make meaning of text. Take a look at the following sample double-entry journals.
During Reading
(60-70% of instructional time should be spent on during reading activities.)Marking the Text
What is it?
Marking the text is an active reading strategy that asks students to identify information in the text that is relevant to the reading purpose. This strategy has three distinct marks:Number paragraphs
Circle key terms and/ or names of people, places, or things
Underline authors' claims or other information relevant to the reading purpose
Download a student reference guide: Marking the Text
How do I use it?
Based on the reading purpose, students will use marking the text to identify information as they read. They will begin by numbering the paragraphs they have been asked to read. Then, as they identify information that is relevant to the reading task, they will underline or circle this information, making it easier to locate for notes or discussion.Why should I use it?
When students mark texts purposefully, they are actively engaged in meaning making. To mark texts effectively, students must evaluate an entire passage and begin to recognize and isolate the key information. Once the text is marked, students will be able to quickly reference information that pertains to the reading purpose. Students might also use their markings to assist in summary writing, to connect ideas presented within the text, or to investigate claims, evidence, or rhetorical devices. Numbering paragraphs is also essential for class discussions. Once paragraphs are numbered, students can easily direct others to those places where they have found relevant information.The following table offers some ways students can mark texts in a variety of disciplines.
Textbook Strategies
Reproduce parts of the larger text
Use Post-it notes to create removable margins
Use Post-it notes to comment on visuals
Make photo copies of essential pages (excerpts)
Use overlays (plastic wrap, overhead sheets, page protectors)
claims
thesis statements
central claims
Places
Dates
Content vocabulary
Concept vocabulary
Words that signal relationships (compare-contrast; cause-effect)
Numbers
Textbook strategies
Use Post-it notes to comment on visuals
Make photo copies of essential pages (excerpts)
Use overlays (plastic wrap, overhead sheets, page protectors)
Textbook strategies
Use Post-it notes to comment on visuals
Make photo copies of essential pages (excerpts)
Use overlays (plastic wrap, overhead sheets, page protectors)
units
mathematical terms
formulas
variables
values
percentages
units
symbols
Textbook Strategies
Use Post-it notes to comment on visuals
Make photo copies of essential pages (excerpts)
Use overlays (plastic wrap, overhead sheets, page protectors)
Word Problems
essential information
items
numbers
number words
action words
values
percentages
units
Student Notes
processes
units
mathematical terms
symbols
regulations
dates
Writing and Drawing in the Margins
What is it?
Competent readers will regularly write and or draw in the margins of a text. When readers engage in this active reading strategy, they will...ask questions based on the information in the text.
clarify information presented in the text.
summarize information presented in the text.
make connections to history, personal experiences, or other texts.
draw ideas presented in the text.
Download a student reference guide: Writing and Drawing in the Margins
I would like to make a distinction between “annotating the text” and writing and drawing in the margins. The term “annotating” has come to mean many different things—writing notes in the margins, underlining information, highlighting main ideas, circling unfamiliar words—making it difficult for students to know what they should be thinking about and doing when asked to annotate a text. Writing and or drawing in the margins, on the other hand, has a specific purpose and action. For example, when using "Writing in the Margins," we are explaining what we want students to do--summarize, clarify, connect, etc.--and we are showing them how to do it.
How do I use it?
While students read, they should clarify, summarize, connect, and visualize textual information by either writing or drawing in the margins. Depending on the passage, a student might want to draw a concept that is being discussed or an analogy that is being used to compare one experience to another. These drawings should be small enough to fit in the margins and they should be placed near the section of text that they are illustrating. Similarly, students who choose to write in the margins should be encouraged to write their ideas directly next to the paragraph that they are responding to.Why should I use it?
Writing in the margins engages readers in the reading task and allows them to document their thinking while reading. Both writing in the margins and drawing in the margins engages students in actively thinking about the texts they read. The power of this strategy is not the actual act of writing and drawing in the margins; instead, it is the thinking processes that students must undergo in order to produce such ideas.Organizing and Categorizing Information
What is it?
Organizing and categorizing information is an active reading strategy that asks students to evaluate information in a text to better understand how the ideas are related. This strategy also asks students to recreate a text in a more visual form.Download a student reference guide: Graphic Organizers
How do I use it?
As students read, have them organize and or categorize information presented in the text. Typically, charts and tables are used to organize textual material. Students can create these charts and tables in their notes or teachers can create them and make photo copies for their students.Why should I use it?
Graphic organizers and various other organizing tools assist students as they comprehend and extend ideas presented in texts. These visual representations challenge students as they evaluate what they read, apply what they have learned, and eventually organize or categorize textual information. The following websites offer a variety of graphic organizers that you could use with your students.Graphic organizers
Education Oasis (Fine resource for teachers who are looking for variety)Tools for Reading, Writing, and Thinking (Good place for practical organizers)
Education Place (Some of the organizers here are a bit elementary)
Englishcompanion.com (Strategies for note making are available here)
Double-entry Journals
Double-entry journals take many shapes and forms. Educators assign double-entry journals to facilitate student learning in social studies, literature, math, and science. Writing in this format helps students take notes, relate new information to personal experience and academic learning, and generate new ideas. Double-entry journals can include visual representations such as story boards, charts, webs, and diagrams as well as writing. Simply, double-entry journals help students interact with and make meaning of text. Take a look at the following sample double-entry journals.Dialectical Journals
Ideas for the double-entry description came directly from http://www.maslibraries.org/infolit/samplers/spring/doub.html.